Rotary crane



Fu 27, 1940. w DALTON ROTARY CRANE Filed June 22, 1938 ..n W 1 h ol r bk0 n J& v mfiA ma .6 m H W y b Patented Feb. 27, 1940 ROTARY CRANEWilliam Dalton, Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to General ElectricCompany, a corporation of New York Application June 22, 1938, Serial No.215,310

' 8 Claims.

My invention relates to cranes and more particularly to portable rotarycranes.

It is an object of my invention to provide a simple and efficient rotarycrane which is arranged for maximum convenience and flexibility in theoperation thereof.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent asthe following description proceeds and the features of novelty whichcharacterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in theclaims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention reference may be had to theaccompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of anembodiment of my invention,'Fig. 2 is a plan View of my crane, Fig. 3 isa side view of the crane shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 4 is a view, partly Kalong the line 44 of Fig. 2.

The illustrated embodiment of my invention includes a lifting beampivotally supported on the roof of arailway car which is adapted to beused in connection with apparatus for welding the rails in the track ofa railway system. A hoisting sheave is connected at one end of thelifting beam and an electric hoist is attached to the opposite end. Thelifting beam is designed to reciprocate lengthwise so that, in theembodiment illustrated, the welder may be carried from' a platform onthe car to the outboard position and vice versa. The beam isarranged toswing around a pivot so that the welder can be used on either rail. Suchan arrangement occupies a minimum of space since by placing the crane onthe roof of the car substantially the entire car may be utilized for.living quarters or storage space or'both as well as to carry the crane.Afurtheradvantage lies in the fact that acrane embodying my inventiontakes up a minimum of head room.

Referring to the drawing Ihave shown a railway car Ill provided with aplatform II at one end thereof for the support of a welder 12. TheWelder forms no part of my present invention .but is shown, describedand claimed in my copending application Serial No. 237,713, filedOctober 29. 1938, and assigned to the same assignee as the presentapplication. The lifting beam l3 of the crane, illustrated as an I-beamhaving flanges I4, is shown on the roof of the car 10, the roof thusproviding a platform for the support of the crane.

Hoisting tackle is provided at the outer end of the lifting beam'l3. A'suitable cable 14a is.

in section, of the crane shown in Fig. 1 taken rove around hoistingsheaves I5 at the endof the lifting beam l3, and load sheaves 6rotatablysupported in a running block I1. The running block I! carries ahook l8 for engagement with the work to be lifted. One end of the'cable- Ma is attached to the lifting beam as indicated at IS. The otherend of the cable; Mn is wound around a drum 20 at the opposite end ofthe. lifting beam l3, the drum being rotatably journaled in a support20a on beam l3 and rotated in any suitable manner. I have shown anelectric motor 2| for this purpose. The cable 14a may be'ofany suitablematerial such as rope', flexible wire or a chain, for example. It isobvious that 3 rotation of the. drum in one direction will cause therunning block to beraised while rotation of the drum in the oppositedirection will cause the running block I! to belowered.

Inorder' to swing or rotate the lifting .I have provided thefollowing'apparatus. Curved tracks 2| are attached to the roof at one end of thecar l0. Pairs 'of flanged wheels 22 adapted 'to engage the tracks 2|are. carried on axles 23 which are suitably journaled in the arms ofsub-.

stantially U'-shaped brackets 24 oneach side of the beam 13. TheU-shaped brackets 24 are held in fixed spaced relationship by means ofangle irons 25. which are suitably joined at the center as by Welding,for example. The axle 23 and accordingly the wheels 22 may be rotated inany suitable manner. In the arrangement illustratedI have shown oneof'the flanges of one of the wheels 22 replaced by a gear 26. Ifdesired, a separate gear may be placed on one of the axles 23. Anelectric motor 21 supported ona bracket 28 which is secured to one armof one of the U-shaped brackets 24 drives the gear 26 through a pinion29 carried by the motor shaft. Rollers 30 are carried by axles 3| whichare suitably journaled in the base section of the U-shaped brackets 24.The rollers 30, one on each side of theweb of the lifting beam I3 engagebeam,

the under sideof the upper flange M of the I-' beam.

As illustrated in the drawing the lifting beam I3 is adapted to swingabout apivoted substantially U-shaped' member 3|!a which is locatedintermediate the ends of the car. Rollers. 32 similar to rollers 30 aresuitably rotatably supported from each arm of the member am on each'sideof the lifting beam 13 and engage the under side of the upper flange I4.This arrangement permits the lifting beam toride on the rollers duringits reciprocable movement thereby minimizing friction and guiding thebeam. Further, the support 20a for the hoist at the end of the beamserves as a stop and will cooperate serving the same purposes may beused if de;- 1

sired. For example, a longitudinal slot may be cut through the web ofthe beam and a' bar or rod extended therethrough perpendicular to thebeam. The entire beam could then be moved. laterally along the rodinstead of pivotally, the

rod and slot also cooperating to prevent tipping of the beam and tolimit and guide the longitudi- With this arrangement,

nal movement thereof. 1 straight tracks would be satisfactory in placeof the curved tracks 2L As a further alternative, member 3! and rollers32 could be used in the form shown in the drawing but member 3! could bemade to reciprocate in a direction cross wise of the beam. In thisarrangement a tongue on the bottom of member 3| engaging an undercutgroove on the car roof might be utilized.

It will be apparent that as the electric motor 21 is operated, rotationwill be transmitted through the gears 29 and 26 to the wheels 22..

This force, transmitted through the wheels 30. to

the lifting beam l3, tends to push the lifting beam in a directiondepending upon the direction of rotation of the motor. Inasmuch'as thepivoted member (ii is shown in the drawing 'asifixed against translatorymotion, the lifting beam will swing about the member 3| as a pivotpoint. Stops 33 are provided at the ends of the tracks 2! to limit therotational movement of the crane. In order to reciprocate the liftingbeam I3 I have provided means to drive the rollers 30. As will be seenbest from Fig. 4 one of the rollers 3!! is provided with a flange 34.The roller 30 on the opposite side of the lifting beam I3, instead ofhaving a flange, is provided with a gear 35. If desired, both rollers 30may be flanged and a separate gear may be attached to one of the axles3|. An'electric motor 36a carried on a bracket 31 which is supportedfrom one of the U-shaped brackets 24 drives the gear 35' through apinion 36 and an idler gear 31 which is carried on a bracket 38. Sincethe rollers 30 engage the upper flange M of the lifting beam l3, it willbe apparent that the lifting beam will be moved lengthwise of the caraccording to the direction of rotation of electric motor 36. Anysuitable motor control may be used and suitable-controls will beapparent to those skilled in the art. I v

It will be apparent that if desired, I may place the crane embodying myinvention upon a turn{ table, or a platform movable or rotatable with respect to its support. For example, I may place my crane on a turntablelocated on the roof of "a railway car. With such an arrangement, byrotating the turntable the lifting beam may be made available forreciprocation in any desired direction and, in addition, will be capableof a limited rotary or lateral movement, depending upon the type ofguide member provided, for each position of the turntable or platform. 7While for purposes of illustration I have described my invention inconnection with welding apparatus, it is obvious that my invention isaplaterally movable lifting beam is advantageous. For example, insteadof supporting my crane upon the roof of a railway car my invention couldbe set up on any platform or in the form of a pillar type crane. I donot desire my invention to be limited to the particular constructionshown and described and I intend in the appended claims to cover allmodifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. A portable crane comprising a platform, a lifting beam on saidplatform, a track on said platform, a wheel associated with said beamand engagingsaid track, means for driving said wheel and moving saidbeam laterally of said platform,

a roller engaging'said beam, and means for driving said roller andmoving said beam lengthwise ofsaid platform.

2. Aportable crane comprising a platform, a lifting beam on saidplatform, a pivoted guide for said beam on said platform, means to swingsaid beam laterally about said guide as a pivot point, said meansincluding a track on said platform, a wheel engaging said track andmeans to drive said wheel, and means to reciprocate said beam lengthwiseof said platform including a roller engaging said beam and means todrive said roller.

3. 'A portable crane comprising a railway platform, a lifting beam onsaid platform,a pivoted member on said platform associated with saidbeam, a track on said platform, a bracket located on each side of saidbeam, a wheel journaled in each of saidbrackets and engaging said track,

means to rotate said wheels for swinging said beam laterally about saidmember as a pivot point,

a roller journaled in each of saidibrackets 'and engaging said beam andmeans'to rotate said roller for reciprocating said beamlengthwise ofsaid platform.

4. Apparatus suitable for use with a rail welder comprising a railwaycar, a lifting beam on the roof 'of said car, hoisting tackle at one endof said beam, a hoist at the other end of said beam, a cable extendingbetween said tackle and said hoist, a pivoted member on said car, aroller rotatably supported on said pivoted member in engagement withsaid beam for guiding the lengthwise movement of said beam and forpreventing tipping of said beam with respect to said roof, a

curved track on'said roof of said car, a bracket beam lengthwise of saidcar.

5. Apparatus suitable for use with a rail welder comprising a railwaycar, a lifting beam on the roof of said car, hoisting tackle at one endof said beam, a hoist at the other end of said beam,- a cable-extendingbetween said tackle and said hoist, a pivoted substantially U-shapedmember on said car, said beam being arranged between the arms of saidmember, a roller rotatably supported on each arm of said member inengagement with said beam for guiding the lengthwise movement of saidbeam and for preventing tipping of said beam with respect to said roof,a

curved track on said car, a bracket located on each side of said beam, aflanged wheel journaled in each of said brackets and engaging saidcurved track, a second roller journaled in each of said brackets andengaging said lifting beam on opposite sides of said beam, meansmaintaining said brackets in fixed spaced relationship, a driven gearassociated with oneof said flanged wheels, means to drive said drivengear for swinging said beam laterally about said U-shaped pivotedmemher, a second driven gear associated with said second roller andmeans to drive said second driven gear for movingsaid beam lengthwise ofsaid car.

6. A portable crane comprising a platform, a lifting beam supported onsaid platform, a laterally projecting portion on said lifting beam, apivoted guide for said beam located on said platform, means for swingingsaid beam about said guide as a pivot point, means to reciprocate saidbeam lengthwise of said platform, said last-mentioned means and saidpivoted guide cooperatingrwith said portion for preventing said beamfrom tilting with respect to said platform.

7. A portable crane comprising a platform, a lifting beam supported onsaid platform, a laterally projecting, longitudinally extending portionon said beam, a pivoted guide for said beam,

said guide including a member, a roller journalled on said member, saidroller engaging the upper surface of said portion whereby said memberand said roller cooperate with said portion to permit longitudinal andpivotal movement of said beam but prevent tilting of said'beam withrespect to said platform, means for swinging said beam about said guideas a pivot point, and means to reciprocate said beam lengthwise ofsaidplatform.

8. A portable crane comprising a platform, .a lifting beam supported onsaid platform, a laterally projecting longitudinally extending portionon said beam, a pivoted guide for said beam supported on said platform,said guide including a bracket, a roller journalled on said bracket,said roller engaging the upper surface of said portion to permitlongitudinal and pivotal movement of v said beam butprevent tilting ofsaid beam with respect to said platform, means to swing said beamlaterally about said guide as a pivot point, said means including atrack on said platform, a wheel engaging said track and means to drivesaid wheel, and means to reciprocate said beam lengthwise of saidplatform including a roller engaging said beam and means to drive saidroller.

WILLIAM DALTON.

